New Delhi, June 2
The medical students' strike at Safdarjung Hospital was called off this evening after the administration assured them and resident doctors, who joined the agitation, that their demands would be met.

Karan Vats, the president of striking students, and Chandra Bhan, president of resident doctors association, told The Tribune that management had assured them their demands like availability of drinking water, air-conditioning in the unventilated classes and a lift in the four-storeyed building would be met in a couple of days. However, it would still take some time to shift the students to a new hostel as the building was not ready yet.

Though Vats said they would continue with silent protests and resort to strike again if the management did not stick to its word.

The institute's director Jagdish Prasad and medical superintendent NK Mohanty talked with students and doctors to end the strike.

It was a day of suffering for hundreds of patients who had turned up at the hospital for treatment as striking students, supported by resident doctors, locked up the OPD and sat on protest outside it, disrupting the patient care.

Over 300 MBBS students said Vardhaman Mahavir Medical College - Safdarjung Hospital's medical college - has not provided them with even basic facilities like drinking water and decent accommodation and blamed the management's callousness for their extreme step.

"We regret inconveniencing the patients but we were left with no option," said the president of striking students' association.

The hospital management tried to tackle the strike by calling the police in the morning and the cops tried to take away the students in an attempt to resume the patient care. But students, many of them girls, resisted and the cops then withdrew, anticipating violence.

As disorder prevailed in the hospital, harried patients and their families could be seen running around in the torrid heat conditions in the hope that the OPD would open.

Raman Bhatia (55), who lives in Gurgaon and suffers from bone problems, said the strike had spoiled his day and he would have to come again. "It is so crowded and it is always an agonising experience to come here. Whatever be their demands, why they should make patients suffer for it," he asked.

New Delhi, June 2
Going by the number of applications received for a course and jobs offered to students of an undergraduate course in Delhi University (DU), B.Com. (Hons) clearly tops the list of courses.

The cut-off for B.Com. (Hons), one of the most-wanted courses of DU, has constantly been soaring. In most colleges, the cut-offs does not go below 90 per cent.

Sri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) is clearly the first choice of the students applying for commerce courses in DU. The college offers around 501 seats in all commerce courses, including the seats reserved under different categories. Around 200 seats out of these 501 seats fall under the general category.

Last year, the college offered admissions to B.Com. (Hons) at more than 94.75 per cent.

"The combined efforts of the faculty and students have taken the college to the top position in the list of the best commerce institutes in the country," said Dr P. C. Jain, principal, SRCC, who is himself from the commerce department.

The college has a very good placement record. More than 160 students of the college were placed in different private and public firms last year.

"At times even we get surprised when our students are hired right after graduation at unbelievable salaries of even around 32 lakh a year," said Jain.

The college is also a favourite destination among students interested in pursuing higher studies. So far the college has had more than 160 students placed in the London School of Economics for post-graduate degrees with full scholarship.

After completing B.Com. (Hons) course, students could look at jobs with hefty salaries like chartered accountant and management accountant.

Under the DU's syllabi for B.Com. (Hons), there are 12 compulsory papers in the first year, including two specialised papers on corporate law and income tax law.

After SRCC, Hansraj College in the north campus is also popular for B.Com (Hons). Last year, the college closed admissions to B.Com. (Hons) at 94.25 per cent.

Kirori Mal College offered admissions to B.Com.(Hons) at 93.75 per cent while Lady Sri Ram's cut-off was 94.5 per cent for the course. Ramjas and Sri Venkateswara colleges offered admissions to the course at 93.25 per cent and 93.5 per cent, respectively.

New Delhi, June 2
Thousands of students going to appear for the Common Aptitude Test for English (CATE) do not need any special preparation for the test.

As many as 9,200 students have applied for the CATE this year. These students would appear for the entrance test on June 9, competing for English (Hons) seats in 17 top colleges of the university.

The university’s English department has advised these students to take it easy and not get stressed about the entrance examination. “Students appearing for the test do not require any last-minute preparation as the test would be out of the course they have studied in the last two years,” said Sumanyu Sathpathy, head of English Department, DU.

The students appearing for the test need to carry their admit card to the prescribed centre along with HB pencil and black ink ball pen. The question paper of the test would comprise two parts. The Part A will comprise multiple choice questions and the Part B descriptive questions. Students would be asked to attempt both the parts in the same sitting.

“We are not providing any special information or material to read for the examination. There is no negative marking,” said Sathpathy.

The final aptitude quotient, known as the CATE score, will be determined by collating their class XII examination marks in the best four and the CATE marks on 30:70 ratio. A merit list of candidates will be formed on the basis of such collation.

Noida, June 2
In the 168th Board meeting, the Noida Authority approved the reduction of transfer charges of property from 10 to 2 per cent.

The Noida Board also approved floating a residential scheme of 371 flats to be built in Sectors 108, 135 and 62, which will be allotted on lottery system.

These flats include duplex, super duplex and others and their price will range from Rs 12,53,000 to Rs 18,82,700 a unit.

Giving details of the decisions taken by the Board today, Noida chairman Mohinder Singh said that it had been decided to give a residential plot to each family which had given agricultural land to Noida.

The chairman said from 1976 when Noida was set up to 1977, all the farmers who had contributed land will be allotted a plot in Sector 116.

The Board, he said, wanted to ensure that each farming family be given at least one residential plot each.

Some 1,112 plots are available for the purpose. As per another decision, rainy well No. 9 will be shortly constructed on the Yamuna bank near Shiv Mandir in Noida, which will augment the supply of potable water.

The Noida Authority will give a grant of Rs 2 crore to the four inter colleges.

Two colleges are set up in Noida while two in Greater Noida. Among four colleges, two are for women while two for men.

The Noida Authority will shortly set up a corpus to enable these colleges meet their financial needs, the chairman added.

New Delhi, June 2
The BJP today attacked the Delhi government for increasing the prices of pulses at the outlets it had opened to sell essential commodities at reasonable rates.

Accusing the government of piling financial burden on the common man, senior BJP leader V K Malhotra said the decision of the government to increase prices of pulses will hit hard the middle class and below poverty line families.

“It is ironic that when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is claiming to take steps to bring food inflation under control, Delhi Chief Minister has authorised an increase in the prices of pulses

being sold at government outlets in the city,” he said.

The Food and Civil Supplies department of Delhi government had yesterday announced increasing prices of three varieties of pulses currently being sold at 400 select outlets, including all Mother Dairy booths. Aiming to provide relief to the people from price rise, the Delhi government in February had begun sale of ten

varieties of pulses in nearly 400 outlets, including all Mother Dairy booths at reasonable rates. — PTI

New Delhi, June 2
Two weeks after registering on popular social networking site Facebook, the Delhi traffic police totted up over 5,000 fans by Wednesday evening.

Created to network better with the public and seek help to improve the traffic in the city, especially during the upcoming Commonwealth Games, the page has received several comments, suggestions and complaints from people.

Till 5.30 pm on Wednesday, the page registered 5,048 fans. In one of the interactions, Munne Bharti, a netizen, complained that one of the main reasons for perpetual traffic jams on a particular stretch of road in south Delhi is a pit that has not been filled properly.

The traffic police responded by saying that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has been approached to address the problem immediately.

Dave Sood, another netizen, suggested: “It would be of great help if there is a mobile number where we can message to find out the traffic movement in a particular area.”

Ricky Malhotra, another fan, said: “This is a great platform to connect with the people and have an honest exchange of opinion to better the services of the Delhi police.”

Not just that, people have gone a step ahead to upload videos and pictures of traffic jams, drivers getting fined, cars being towed away and the like.

Ajay Chadha, special commissioner of police, traffic, said: “We look forward to continued support from all citizens. The feedback being received on Facebook in the form of observations, suggestions and complaints is proving to be very valuable to us.”

“We are in the process of re-designing our website and a computerised complaint monitoring system will be put in place. We will try to make it possible for the citizens to find out the present status of their complaints or their suggestions,” he added.

The Delhi traffic police, which is now also on Twitter, another networking site, also gives traffic updates and advisory on these sites. — IANS

New Delhi, June 2
Keeping in view a spate of complaints about some commuters performing return journey on the same token to occupy empty seats at terminal stations, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has launched a special campaign to deter such instances.

Many passengers have been seen travelling in a direction to which they are not entitled.

For example, a passenger purchases a token for Vishwavidyalaya, but boards the train going towards Central Secretariat. He then comes back in the same train to go to Vishwavidyalaya with the motive of keeping a seat .

“To prevent such cases, six special checking squad teams of customer relation assistants, junior station controllers and assistant station controllers have been constituted,” said Anuj Dayal, spokesperson, DMRC.

These teams have been given separate code names: Alpha, Beta, Gama, Delta, Pie and Toe. Each team comprises 10 members. These teams are deputed in the terminal stations of all the lines, especially in Central Secretariat, Noida City Centre, Anand Vihar, Dilshad Garden and Rithala Metro stations where more such cases are reported.

The teams are provided with portable ticket decoders which enable them to decode the passenger tickets and impose a fine of Rs 50 if found performing return journey on the same token.

Ghaziabad, June 2
A family in Ghaziabad had a surprise visitor on Tuesday night— a four-foot long monitor lizard that became the house guest while the scared hosts had to spend the night out on the street.

Around 11.30 pm on Tuesday, Pradeep Thakur, a resident of Defense Colony in Muradnagar on the outskirts of the national Capital, saw a monitor lizard in his living room when he was going to turn off his television.

“I saw something brown and bulky in the corner of the room. When I went nearer I was stunned to see a four-foot long lizard resting comfortably. I couldn’t dare to go any nearer so I returned quietly and asked my family members to come out of the house. All of us got out of the house and the lizard remained inside,” said Thakur.

The police was informed and it was decided that maybe they should wait till the morning.

In the morning, the forest department officials and a team from an animal rights group reached the spot and were able to cage the lizard after half an hour’s struggle, the police said. — IANS

New Delhi, June 2
The Delhi government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with INTACH to conserve 55 unprotected monuments in the national Capital.

They include nine heritage structures, mostly tombs, which have been notified by the Delhi government for conservation. The proposal has already been approved by Lieut-Governor Tejendra Khanna.

“All these monuments are unprotected and almost forgotten. Now these will be taken up for conservation,” a senior official at the Delhi Archaeology Department said.

The nine monuments are Darashiko Library, Tomb of Paik (opposite GTK bus terminal), Gol Gumband in Lodhi road, Turkman Gate in Asif Ali Marg, Sarai of Azim Ganj and two tombs at the National Zoological Park.

Delhi has around 1,200 heritage structures out of which 175 are maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India while 25 are taken care of by the State Archaeology Department.

According to the MoU, 200 unprotected monuments in the national Capital will be conserved. Out of which, 92 will be notified and given a new lease of life by October in view of the Commonwealth Games.

“The monuments, once given a new lease of life, may also be tourist attractions during the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Therefore, the work will start soon as the preliminary notification is over and proper care will be given in protecting and conserving these monuments,” the official added.

New Delhi, June 2
In a shocking revelation, special public prosecutor B.S. Joon told a Delhi court that the two chargesheets having Congress leader Sajjan Kumar as an accused were never clubbed and accused the investigating officer of giving an incorrect statement.

Joon made the statement in the court of district judge Bimla Makin who fixed the matter for June 4.

Makin presided over the hearing for the first time after the case was transferred from the court of an additional sessions judge, who had recused himself from the case citing personal reasons.

Earlier on April 21, the prosecution had said before the court that the chargesheet against the former MP was prepared but never brought before a judge despite having sufficient evidence.

The FIR, which was registered at Nangloi police station in 1992, was instead clubbed with other riots cases in which the trials were already going on before the court, Joon had said.

The public prosecutor’s revelation was supported by senior advocate H.S. Phoolka, who represents riots’ victims.

Speaking to The Tribune, Phoolka said, “If the court clarifies that the chargesheet was not clubbed then it will be filed before the magistrate and Sajjan Kumar has to be arrested and produced before the court. If it is clubbed too, the chargesheet should be filed before the court concerned and summons be issued against the accused to face trial.”

New Delhi, June 2
A Delhi court has awarded over Rs 9 lakh as compensation amount to the family of a 30-year-old rickshaw puller who died in a road accident in 2008.

Motor accident claim tribunal judge, Swarana Kanta Sharma awarded Rs 9,25,050 to the family of the victim, Fakira, on prima facie evidence.

The judge added that the amount be paid with an interest of 7.5 per cent per annum from the date of filing of petition till its realisation.

The court has asked the driver of the vehicle Karan Singh, owner of the vehicle Jagdish Makkar and the insurance company to jointly pay the compensation amount within 30 days.

On October 3, 2008, around 3 am when Fakira was sitting on his cycle rickshaw parked on the footpath of Faiz Road, a truck driven in a rash and negligent manner came from the Karol Bagh side and hit another truck. Due to the collision, the other truck and hit Fakira’s rickshaw.

Fakira sustained fatal injuries. He was taken to the Lady Harding Medical College by a PCR van, but he succumbed to his injuries.

During the hearing, Fakira’s wife stated that the he earned about Rs 6,000 per month.

The police report presented before the court stated that the accident took place due to rash and negligent driving by the driver of the truck.

Fakira’s postmortem report also reflects that the injuries sustained by him are of the nature which could be sustained in a road accident.

Taking into consideration the charge-sheet, FIR and the post-mortem report, the judge said, “I am of the opinion that Fakira died in a road accident due to the involvement of a truck driven in a rash and negligent manner.”

The court also sympathised with his family and said, “No amount of compensation can compensate the loss of a husband to the wife, loss of a father to the minor sons, loss of a young son to his mother and loss of a brother to his unmarried sister.”

New Delhi, June 2
Two labourers were killed while three others injured when a building undergoing construction work collapsed in the Krishna Nagar area of east Delhi last night.

According to fire officials, the incident was reported around 8.35 pm from a two-storey building in P Block of Shankar Nagar Extension.

According to information, third floor was being constructed in a two-storey house owned by one Anuj Jain, for which six workers were engaged last night. However, the roof of the under-construction third floor collapsed, leading to a gradual collapse of the second and first floors.

"Around five persons were trapped in the debris. Two of them died in hospital. The other three have received minor injuries and are out of danger. We are investigating the cause of the collapse," said the police.

The victims have been identified as Salauddin (25) and Hira Lal (55).

"The duo was reported dead around 1 am in the Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital," said a police officer.

A case of causing death due to negligence has been registered and the police is investigating the matter. No arrest was confirmed till late evening.

New Delhi, June 2
Taking note of the city’s record of 15 to 20 cases of dog bite every day, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is trying its bit to get rid of the nuisance of stray dogs.

Clearing its long-awaited proposal, the civic body has given orders to open centres for sterilisation and anti-rabies vaccination of stray dogs in the city.

The municipal commissioner has issued directions to identify land for the centres. Around 10 centres will be opened across Delhi, the maximum of which will be located in the Trans Yamuna area, as it has the highest population of stray dogs.

“We want to do away with the problem of stray dogs before the Commonwealth Games. Dealing with stray dogs is getting tougher as we do not have sufficient number of centres to treat them and enough non-government organisations (NGOs) working for them,” said a senior MCD officer.

The corporation had outsourced the work of sterilisation of dogs to NGOs in 2003. A total of 10 NGOs were roped in by the civic body for the purpose. In 2008-09, 2,7199 stray dogs were caught for sterilisation, in 2006-07, the count was 18,428 and in 2005-06, 12,682 dogs were caught by the NGOs. The NGOs get Rs 445 for the treatment of every dog.

“The increasing number of stray dogs on Delhi roads is a big problem. We have been running dog sterilisation campaigns with the NGOs, but they have not yielded satisfactory results. Therefore, was decided to open our own centres for sterilisation of dogs where anyone can bring dogs for treatment,” said the officer.

According to the estimate of the officials, there are around 10 lakh stray dogs on Delhi roads. Around Rs two crore are allocated every year in the MCD budget for dealing with the problem of stray dogs.

New Delhi, June 2
A 21-year-old student committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling fan of his hostel room in the Uttam Nagar area of west Delhi yesterday.

According to the police, Anil was discovered dead by his hostel inmates who reported the matter to the police.

"The incident was reported from a hostel that houses merchant navy aspirants who take coaching in the area. Anil hails from Madhya Pradesh," said a police official, adding that a suicide note had been recovered from the body.

According to information, Anil has blamed the hostel warden for beating and harassing him and thus forcing him to commit suicide. The police is investigating the matter and the role of the warden.